Rik Ferguson, Global Vice President Security Research at Trend Micro, said the music industry had to completely reconfigure itself because due to downloading in the early part of this century. He noted that the advent of 3D printing makes the same process inevitable for the manufacturing industry in the near future.

There will be in excess of 20bn smart devices connected to the internet by 2020, Mr Ferguson said at Dublin Info sec 2016.

With the rise of the internet of things, the vulnerability of our daily infrastructure now needed to be addressed:

"Everything can now have a hugely magnified effects. It's not just about major infrastructure."

Mr Ferguson said the possibility of the creation of malware to infect humans is "now within the realms of possibility."

He also highlighted that cloud platforms were the major enablers for disruptive technologies, but added that hackers were becoming increasingly aware of "the points of weakness" related to the technology.

"There are going to be many different avenues of attack. You have to think on these avenues when you are thinking about the future."